Article 370 : SC Sets Up Constitution Bench To Hear Pleas Challenging Repeal Of J&K Special Status

The Supreme Court has set up a Constitution Bench comprising Justices N V Ramana, Sanjay Kishen Kaul, R Subhash Reddy, B R Gavai and Surya Kant to hear the petitions challenging the Presidential Orders under Article 370 which revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir from October 1, reported the PTI quoting official sources.

It was on August 28 that the bench of CJI Gogoi, Justices Bobde and Abdul Nazeer referred the matter  to the Constitution Bench, while considering as many as fifteen petitions challenging the Presidential Orders.

National Conference leaders Mohammed Akbar Lone and Hasnain Masoodi (who is a former judge of J&K High Court), former IAS officer and J&K politician Shah Faesel, activist Shehla Rashid, Kashmiri lawyer Shakir Shabir, Advocate M L Sharma, are some of the petitioners.

Some of the petitions also challenge the constitutional validity of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act 2019, which bifurcated the state into Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.

The order issued by President Ram Nath Kovind on August 5 under Article 370(3) of the Constitution had the effect of nullifying Article 35A of the Constitution and making the provisions of Indian Constitution applicable to Jammu and Kashmir. This was followed by another order passed on August 6, which read down Article 370 to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.